Miscellaneous

Lesbians = Animal Pornographers?

I can't decide if this story suggests that Sweden is a progressive country or a backwards one.

The court confirmed an earlier district court ruling in favor of a lesbian who had sought damages from a kennel owner who refused to sell her a puppy because of her sexual preference.

The kennel owner must now pay the woman 20,000 kronor ($3,000) in damages for subjecting her to discrimination and harassment.

The incident began when the woman called the kennel, based in the Stockholm suburb of Värmdö, to inquire about an advertisement for a puppy.

But when the kennel owner learned that the woman?s partner was also a woman, she put a stop to the sale.

In her explanation for denying the woman her puppy, the kennel owner made reference to earlier contacts she?d had with transvestite couples, saying she?d read that transvestites are connected to animal pornography.

On the one hand, the American legal system has very few laws prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination, but on the other hand, most Americans (I hope, but I'm sure I'm wrong) don't conflate lesbians with animal pornography, do they (save for Rick Santorum, of course)?

Full post as published by Quiz Law on February 13, 2008 (boomark / email).